BioWare announcesMass Effect 3: Extended Cut, a free DLC pack for Mass Effect 3 they hope will address widespread unhappiness with the conclusion of the action/RPG sequel. Here's word on the free DLC, which does not yet carry a release date:

BioWare, a Label of Electronic Arts Inc. announced Mass Effect™ 3: Extended Cut, a downloadable content pack that will expand upon the events at the end of the critically acclaimed Action RPG. Through additional cinematic sequences and epilogue scenes, the Mass Effect 3: Extended Cut will give fans seeking further clarity to the ending of Mass Effect 3 deeper insights into how their personal journey concludes. Coming this summer, the Mass Effect 3: Extended Cut will be available for download on the Xbox 360® videogame and entertainment system, PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system and PC for no extra charge*.

“We have reprioritized our post-launch development efforts to provide the fans who want more closure with even more context and clarity to the ending of the game, in a way that will feel more personalized for each player.” “We are all incredibly proud of Mass Effect 3 and the work done by Casey Hudson and team,” said Dr. Ray Muzyka, Co-Founder of BioWare and General Manager of EA’s BioWare Label. “Since launch, we have had time to listen to the feedback from our most passionate fans and we are responding. With the Mass Effect 3: Extended Cut we think we have struck a good balance in delivering the answers players are looking for while maintaining the team’s artistic vision for the end of this story arc in the Mass Effect universe.”

Casey Hudson, Executive Producer of the Mass Effect series added, “We have reprioritized our post-launch development efforts to provide the fans who want more closure with even more context and clarity to the ending of the game, in a way that will feel more personalized for each player.”

I've addressed this before. Each individual character gets resolution of their story arc. Those are the endings of your companions, but are not significant enough on a galactic scale against the reapers

You mean you've dodged the issue before. You claim that you are arguing against people complaining that their choices don't matter to the ending. But where is it? Yes, the choices you make matter during the rest of the game, but who's talking about the rest of the game? We are talking about the ending. You know, the ending where you get to pick one of three possible outcomes. How do any of your choices affect that?

Of course, you'll just dodge the question again, because you already know they don't. Why you won't just admit that and move on, I don't know, but it's probably why people are labeling you a shill.

Flatline wrote on Apr 5, 2012, 18:24:Actually, this could end up being a smart move for DLC for ME3. Think about it, they release DLC and the common complaint is "I finished the game months ago, so I'll pass".

Well, any DLC that comes out before the real "finish" might get picked up to be played through because you haven't finished the game yet.

Yes, I'm that cynical.

If the DLC includes a new gun that erases godchild AI's and a new omnitool that reprograms crucibles to target Reapers only with power at "Extra crispy but no overload" then I might be in.

10 , 100 or 1000 or even 10000 times faster than light is still INCREDIBLE slow, given the ranges involved.

Depends what your definition of "slow" is. If they had FTL that was 10000x the speed of light, even the Quarians could get home in ~8 years. And they'd have the farthest to travel of anyone. I wouldn't call 8 years fast, but most of them would be alive when they got there, all other conditions being equal. They certainly are used to traveling through space.

Its when people complain that your choices don't matter, that's what I'm arguing against

So why not demonstrate how your choices matter to the ending?

You saved the Geth vs the Quarians - what changed in your 3 colour choice? You betrayed the Krogans instead of saving them - what changed in your 3 colour choice? Morinth killed herself to save her daughter - what changed in the 3 colour choice?

I could, of course, go on.

I've addressed this before. Each individual character gets resolution of their story arc. Those are the endings of your companions, but are not significant enough on a galactic scale against the reapers. The choices you make against the reaper resolves the Shepard story arc, but does not negate or cheapen the endings for your companions.

Yifes wrote on Apr 5, 2012, 16:22:ME3 is a great ending to the series. You got to shape this ending, depending on the decisions you made throughout the series. Wrex could've been in charge of the Krogans, or his idiotic warmonger brother Wreave. Mordin could've gave up his life to save Eve and the Krogan race, or not. The Quarians could've learned to live with the Geth or not, and if you chose the Geth over the Quarians, you would've seen one of the most poignant scenes in all of gaming as Tali commits suicide. Miranda dies to kill her father and save her sister. Gaming is an interactive medium, and you as the gamer got to take part in this ending throughout the latter half of the game.

And you got to see the results of your actions: Mordin becomes a hero to the Krogan race, or Wreave readies his troops for intergalactic conquest. The Geth help the Quarians rebuild their homeworld. You mourn for the death of those you lost along the way. That is the epitaph to the story of your companions. That's what matters.

Its when people complain that your choices don't matter, that's what I'm arguing against

So why not demonstrate how your choices matter to the ending?

You saved the Geth vs the Quarians - what changed in your 3 colour choice? You betrayed the Krogans instead of saving them - what changed in your 3 colour choice? Morinth killed herself to save her daughter - what changed in the 3 colour choice?

I could, of course, go on.

The reality is that your choices don't matter in the end. The only things about the game that matter up to that point are how many points you have, and that's only to determine which colour(s) you get to pick from. How you got them, under what circustances, and with what choices are entirely irrelevant.

Dr. D. Schreber wrote on Apr 5, 2012, 17:48:That is absurd, and ignoring canon like Penny Arcade's BS. Non-relay FTL solves nothing. You can't even cross huge sections of the galaxy on it even if you were willing to wait the hundreds/thousands of years it would take because once you hit the spaces between the arms, there aren't any planets for ships to discharge their drive cores. The Alliance's closest territory to Earth] is through a relay; there is nothing worthwhile reachable by FTL from Sol.

The krogan? Well, let's see. Their homeworld is irradiated rubble that can't possibly sustain a population without outside food imports, and if the genophage is cured, they'll be popping out babies by the billions (literally; you are told the first generation will probably be over ten billion.) Overpopulation, much?

Here's another one; two of the fleets at Earth are crewed by dextros. Forgetting for a second that Earth now looks like Tuchanka and probably can't support it's own population (maybe they can eat all the people goo the Reapers left behind hur hur) they can't eat anything anyway. How long until in-fighting starts for food? Or will the relays be fixed before that happens?

Again, the changes are drastic, and the ending gives absolutely no closure for anything. Whether or not krogan society collapses isn't the problem, the problem is we're not shown either way. You can ignore this until the cows come home, but quality is not a subjective thing. Bad writing is bad writing.

Reasonable points, but as you can see in game, even FTL travel allows you access to a number of systems each with numerous planets. The Krogan are a hardy race. They've lived for quite a long time as the Galactic equivalent of Cuba, and I doubt they'd suddenly die out once they're limited to their surrounding systems.

Finally, we are talking about a post-scarcity universe here. You suspense your disbelief long enough to accept galaxy spanning civilizations, but you can't accept the fact that they can synthesize dextros food? Ridiculous.

I don't know what kind of ending you'd be satisfied with if you expect the writers to spell out the evolution for every race for the next century.

I feel geeky now, but for reference, for "sector" space exploration warp speed of 9 or 10 might be barely acceptable, most systems we care about would be in range, but for actual galactic exploration, we'd need warp 20 to be able to cross galaxies. ^^

ME FTL drives clock in at about 80 times speed of light, so yeah, way too friggin slow. (warp 10 is around 10000+ times faster than light)

Yeah but thats maths man, thats too hard. I doubt anyone anywhere at ea or bioware even bothered to check what FTL factor would be needed for practical space exploration.

Dades wrote on Apr 5, 2012, 17:45:I didn't even bother to list all of my own problems with it because you will just nitpick them for several posts as you've done with everyone else. My point is simple, here's the cliffs notes for you in case you joined late. Did you ever stop for a moment to consider the possibility that it is a poor ending that you just happen to like b

Of course you can subjectively dislike any ending. That is completely reasonable, and it seems like the major of people feel this way. However, when you start bringing in specific examples of why the ending is bad, you're the one that's nitpicking. Don't get upset if I don't agree and argue otherwise.

Draugr wrote on Apr 5, 2012, 17:41:I think very few people are arguing for a, "everyone lives happily ever after ending." This is another mistake people make. They equate "I don't like the ending," with, "I don't like unhappy endings."

While these people will, of course exist, (I'm sure there are many varying opinions on the subject,) I think as a general rule, those aren't the majority of the complaints.

Finally, they've said their just fleshing out the ending, not changing it, so whats the problem here for you?If you're looking for people asking for a 'happy ending' I think you are in the wrong place.

I don't even believe a true happy ending is possible. Billions of innocents are either dead or worse. All of the major civilizations have been decimated. Many of your crewmates, past and present, can potentially be dead by the end of this series. Even if they survive they are emotionally damaged after all this time. Can Shepard and his crew surviving and defeating the reapers be considered an unreasonable happy ending? I'd say it's a hard earned reward for fighting to turn the tide over the course of the three games. I don't recall people complaining when that EXACT thing happened at the end of Mass Effect 2.

Dr. D. Schreber wrote on Apr 5, 2012, 17:04:Actually no, you know the status of jack shit because the ending is so vague and full of plot holes it's impossible to tell what's going on without guessing. The ending blows the setting so far out of the water that it's literally impossible for any of the resolutions you've seen until that point to be viable outcomes after the fact.

It doesn't blow the setting out of the water. You know they still have FTL technology. You know certain members of your crew survived. You know that a minor portion of each race is trapped on Earth.

What, you expect all of Krogan society to collapse because there's no more mass effect relays? Every resolution up to the finale is still viable, except for Geth if you choose the destroy all synthetic option.

That is absurd, and ignoring canon like Penny Arcade's BS. Non-relay FTL solves nothing. You can't even cross huge sections of the galaxy on it even if you were willing to wait the hundreds/thousands of years it would take because once you hit the spaces between the arms, there aren't any planets for ships to discharge their drive cores. The Alliance's closest territory to Earth] is through a relay; there is nothing worthwhile reachable by FTL from Sol.

The krogan? Well, let's see. Their homeworld is irradiated rubble that can't possibly sustain a population without outside food imports, and if the genophage is cured, they'll be popping out babies by the billions (literally; you are told the first generation will probably be over ten billion.) Overpopulation, much?

Here's another one; two of the fleets at Earth are crewed by dextros. Forgetting for a second that Earth now looks like Tuchanka and probably can't support it's own population (maybe they can eat all the people goo the Reapers left behind hur hur) they can't eat anything anyway. How long until in-fighting starts for food? Or will the relays be fixed before that happens?

Again, the changes are drastic, and the ending gives absolutely no closure for anything. Whether or not krogan society collapses isn't the problem, the problem is we're not shown either way. You can ignore this until the cows come home, but quality is not a subjective thing. Bad writing is bad writing.

That you're defending an ending (because really they're all the same) that makes zero sense, creates plot holes and destroys a bunch of the universe lore in a mere 10 minutes makes me wonder if you're one of those paid corporate shills since most of your BN history is exactly that shilling for publishers.

I have a feeling i really missed something in not playing Mass Effect and KOTOR.

What other people say about mass effect pretty much sums it up. Yeah it can be repetitive, yeah the story is obvious and kinda lame, but it's a very solid game with one of THE best production values ever put into a RPG. Game looks gorgeous and the fully voice acted dialogue is just wow. Get it cheap and you won't regret it!

Yifes wrote on Apr 5, 2012, 17:24:Then I guess you missed the point where I agree that the ending is vague and full of plot holes. If that is your reasoning for disliking the ending, I have no problems with it. If you prefer a "everyone lives happily ever after ending" then that's ok too. Go watch the original SW trilogy. Its when people complain that your choices don't matter, that's what I'm arguing against. Again, you seem to join a thread late, and miss the point.

I didn't even bother to list all of my own problems with it because you will just nitpick them for several posts as you've done with everyone else. My point is simple, here's the cliffs notes for you in case you joined late. Did you ever stop for a moment to consider the possibility that it is a poor ending that you just happen to like?

Yifes wrote on Apr 5, 2012, 17:24:Then I guess you missed the point where I agree that the ending is vague and full of plot holes. If that is your reasoning for disliking the ending, I have no problems with it. If you prefer a "everyone lives happily ever after ending" then that's ok too. Go watch the original SW trilogy. Its when people complain that your choices don't matter, that's what I'm arguing against. Again, you seem to join a thread late, and miss the point.

I think very few people are arguing for a, "everyone lives happily ever after ending." This is another mistake people make. They equate "I don't like the ending," with, "I don't like unhappy endings."

While these people will, of course exist, (I'm sure there are many varying opinions on the subject,) I think as a general rule, those aren't the majority of the complaints.

Finally, they've said their just fleshing out the ending, not changing it, so whats the problem here for you?If you're looking for people asking for a 'happy ending' I think you are in the wrong place.

RollinThundr wrote on Apr 5, 2012, 17:12:Not only does Yifes slurp the ActivisionBlizzard pepe, he also slurps the EAWare one as well.

Oh I'm sorry, I forgot the part where we're all back in Jr High, and it's cool to hate on things unconditionally. In that case, your mother sucks donkey balls.

You're aware the entire Quarian and what's left of the Turian fleet is now stranded on earth and they don't eat human food right? You're aware all the rest of the fleets are stranded and none of them aside from the Asari have Mass Effect gate knowledge correct?

That you're defending an ending (because really they're all the same) that makes zero sense, creates plot holes and destroys a bunch of the universe lore in a mere 10 minutes makes me wonder if you're one of those paid corporate shills since most of your BN history is exactly that shilling for publishers.

Yifes wrote on Apr 5, 2012, 17:00:Well, you know the status of your remaining companions, at least the ones on the Normandy. They live, seeing as Joker and the crew are alive. You know the status of the different races: Geth/Quarians working together, a Krogan renaissance etc, that was resolved before the end. The galaxy is not fucked, as they still have FTL technology. Just relatively isolated.

Mass Relays are mass transit devices scattered throughout the galaxy, usually located within star systems. They form an enormous network allowing interstellar travel. Hailed as one of the greatest achievements of the extinct Protheans, a mass relay can transport starships instantaneously to another relay within the network, allowing for journeys that would otherwise take years or even decades with only FTL drives.

Pretty sure they all starve in the years to decades it takes them to get somewhere.

Yifes wrote on Apr 5, 2012, 16:39:Not what I was saying at all. Do you want cliff notes? It seems like you have a habit of jumping late into a conversation and only picking up part of the discussion. And if you have a problem with the way I defend Bioware's decision after the trashing it got on these forums, then you have some serious double standards.

I love the double standard the bioware-defenders employ.Bioware supposedly went with this ending because there could be "LOTS OF SPECULATION BY EVERYONE" but when people start to analyze and disassemble the ending,(which usually turns out poorly for the ending, considering the terrible writing) we get the people coming out of the woodwork, claiming that the problem people are having is that they are over thinking it. The PA article touches on this,this is why bioware fanboys love to point at it, just as the CEO of bioware did. One of them says, they get an ending but they never look at the other endings. There is also the comment about Mass Relays, He obviously knows something happens, but he won't look into it (and clearly he never played arrival, which quite plainly states and shows what happens, so he hasn't even really played the entire game.) He's willingly burying his head in the sand to help try and make the experience more enjoyable.

Also, I paid Bioware around $200 to play 3 games, not for a 10 minute cinematic. If that's the only thing you care about, no wonder you feel screwed.

There is no threshold, where once enough time has elapsed, everything in the game can be garbage and we should all be okay with it.I think the point is they care about all of it, that's what makes the last 20 minutes so terrible. DXHR also had a terrible ending, but few people put 200 hours into the game, so when the shit ending came up, it wasn't as painful as people weren't invested as much.

I don't know why fanboys are so defensive of the ending, when the 'new one' comes out they are going to defend it just as vehemently as they did the first one.